Robert Crais: The Last Detective (UK 2011)

From the Publisher:
Elvis Cole's girlfriend, Lucy, is out of town, and she has left her young son, Ben, in Elvis's care. Elvis and Lucy have had a few problems lately - not least over his job as a private investigator. But at last things seem to be getting better.

Then Ben disappears. One minute he's playing his computer game in Elvis's house; the next he has vanished. Elvis looks everywhere, but he just can't find Ben; and neither can Lucy when she arrives.

Then Elvis receives a phone call about Ben - and realises that something from his own past has come back to haunt him...

Elvis Cole has got a problem to solve - and this time it's personal.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective. 48 hours: to clear his name, keep his girl and save a life... Orion Books, ISBN: 9781409136569 (August, 2011), 368 p., £7.99.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective (USA 2004)

From the Publisher:
P.I. Elvis Cole's relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier is strained. Then the unthinkable happens. While Lucy is away on business and her ten-year-old son Ben is staying with Elvis, the boy vanishes without a trace. When the kidnappers call, it's not for ransom, but for a promise to punish Cole for past sins he claims he didn't commit. With the LAPD wrestling over the case, and the boy's estranged father attempting to take control of the investigation, Cole vows to find Ben first. But Cole's partner, Joe Pike, knows more about this case than he has said. Pike lives in a world where dangerous men commit crimes beyond all reckoning. Now, one of those men is alive and well in L.A. -- and calling Elvis Cole to war...

Robert Crais: The Last Detective. Fawcett Books, ISBN: 0345451902 (March, 2004), 352 p., $7.99.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Elvis Cole has got a problem to solve - and this time it's personal.
Elvis Cole's girlfriend, Lucy, is out of town, and she has left her young son, Ben, in Elvis's care. Elvis and Lucy have had a few problems lately - not least over his job as a private investigator. But at last things seem to be getting better.

Then Ben disappears. One minute he's playing his computer game in Elvis's house; the next he has vanished. Elvis looks everywhere, but he just can't find Ben; and neither can Lucy, when she arrives.

Then Elvis receives a phone call about Ben - and realises that something from his own past has come back to haunt him...

Robert Crais: The Last Detective. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752849492 (September, 2003), 343 p., £5.99 / £6.99.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
The stunning break-out novel that will take Robert Crais to the top of the bestseller lists...
Elvis Cole is once again coming to terms with his life as a PI on the streets of LA. He loves his girlfriend, Lucy Chenier, but his constant exposure to the Californian underclasses has stretched their relationship to the limit - especially when Cole's job brings danger too close to her beloved son. The young boy, Ben, is rapidly becoming the light in both their lives.

Then one sunny afternoon, the demons from Elvis's past finally come to visit. Ben is snatched from Cole's secluded home. The kidnappers call. They don't want money. They only want retribution. But who from his past is capable of such a crime? The only clue is that the kidnappers mention the words 'five-two'. Five-two was his unit designation in Vietnam - a life he has avoided thinking about for over twenty years.

Now Elvis must embark on a journey into his own past to try to protect his future. For it seems that this kidnapper is not only someone who knows him, but someone who owes him.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752851985 (February, 2003), 302 p., £12.99.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
With his acclaimed bestsellers, Hostage (a New York Times Notable Book) and Demolition Angel, Robert Crais drew raves for his unstoppable pacing, edgy characterizations, and cinematic prose. Now, in The Last Detective, Crais returns to his signature character, Los Angeles private investigator Elvis Cole, in a masterful page-turner that probes the meaning of family and the burdens of the past.

Elvis Cole's relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier is strained. When she moved from Louisiana to join Elvis in Los Angeles, she never dreamed that violence would so easily touch her life -- but then the unthinkable happens. While Lucy is away on business and her ten-year-old son, Ben, is staying with Elvis, Ben disappears without a trace. Desperate to believe that the boy has run away, evidence soon mounts to suggest a much darker scenario.

Joining forces with his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, Elvis frantically searches for Ben with the help of LAPD Detective Carol Starkey, as Lucy's wealthy, oil-industry ex-husband attempts to wrest control of the investigation. Amid the maelstrom of personal conflicts, Elvis and Joe are forced to consider a more troubling lead -- one indicating that Ben's disappearance is connected to a terrible, long-held secret from Elvis Cole's past.

Venturing deep inside a complex psyche, Crais explores Elvis's need for family - the military that embraced him during a troubled adolescence, his rock-solid partnership with Pike, and his floundering relationship with Lucy - as they race the clock in their search for Ben. The Last Detective is Robert Crais' richest, most intense tale of suspense yet.

Robert Crais: The Last Detective. An Elvis Cole Novel. Doubleday, ISBN: 0385504268 (February, 2003), 302 p., $24.95.